Commander Kindra’s Guide to Training for Size & Strength

Are your workouts geared toward building size or increasing strength? Read on, and learn from the Fitness Commander how to harness the power of hormones in order to reach your strength and size goals.

TRAINING FOR STRENGTH:

Testosterone is the anabolic steroid primarily responsible for increased strength as an adaptation to resistance training. To stimulate the production of testosterone, train according to the following protocol:

• Focus on high volume workouts. The ideal strength-building recipe is 5 sets of 5 reps per exercise, 3-4 exercises per body part.
• Incorporate power exercises and exercises that target large muscle groups: deadlift, power cleans, squats, push-press, etc. Bench press (on its own) does not incorporate enough muscle to stimulate the production of testosterone. This doesn’t mean you should stop benching, but you should train at least one large muscle group during every workout in order to maximize hormonal response.
• Utilize heavy resistance: 85-95% of 1RM and 5RM loads.
• Keep rest intervals between 30 seconds and one minute. (Athletes training for power need to increase rest intervals, however, as does anyone following a 1RM lift.)
• Train in the afternoon: While testosterone  levels are naturally highest in the morning, blood testosterone concentration over a 24-hour period increased most dramatically as a result of exercise later in the day. This is only significant for men. Women do not experience significant increases in testosterone production post-exercise.

 

To augment the body’s production of testosterone, incorporate the following principles into your nutrition plan:

• Eat enough fat. A low-fat diet is directly correlated with drops in both overall testosterone levels AND in levels of the bio-available testosterone necessary for strength gains (and um, other things, guys…). Make sure that you include essential fatty acids from all types of fat, including saturated fat and mono-unsaturated fat. Restricting the diet to purely polyunsaturated “good” fats will also negatively impact testosterone levels.
• Eat enough calories! Just like a low-fat diet, a low-calorie diet will also blunt testosterone levels. Even during “cut” or “lean out” phases, reducing your caloric intake much below a 500-750 caloric deficit can not only lower testosterone production but also begin to downgrade your metabolism, causing the body to burn fewer calories and store fat.
• Avoid simple and refined carbs (ie, sugar and processed foods). These foods stimulate the body’s production of estrogen – a fat-storing hormone.
• As much as possible, structure your diet along the following guidelines:
  • 20-35% of your daily caloric intake from protein
  • 35-50% of your daily caloric intake from fat (depending on training intensity – the harder you train, the more fat you need)
  • 30-50% of your daily caloric intake from low-glycemic carbohydrates.
• Follow the HGH pre and post-meal/bedtime eating guidelines (on the next page) to support both testosterone and HGH production after workouts and during sleep. This will help you to recover faster from intense workouts and maximize your body’s hormonal response to training.

 

TRAINING FOR SIZE:

Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is the anabolic steroid primarily responsible for increased muscle size as an adaptation to resistance training. To stimulate the body’s production of HGH, train according to the following protocol:

• Get out of breath. High-intensity resistance training, high-intensity interval training, plyometric training, and other exercise methods resulting in an oxygen deficit are the most effective means of stimulating HGH production. Research suggests that HGH production can increase as much as 400% following an intense workout.
• Follow a 10RM protocol: 10RM protocols elicit a greater increase in serum HGH than 5RM protocols. In other words, training at 10RM loads produces a larger, rounder   muscle while training at 5RM loads produces a stronger, more compact muscle. The ideal size-building recipe is 3-6 sets of 10 reps per exercise, 3-4 exercises per body part.
• Rest NO LONGER than one minute between sets. Short rest periods are consistent with the greatest increase in exercise-induced HGH production.

 

Other benefits of HGH to the body include increases in protein synthesis (particularly helpful in promoting tissue repair), utilization of fatty acids, fat breakdown, availability of glucose and amino acids, and collagen synthesis. HGH also helps to stimulate cartilage growth.

To augment production of HGH, incorporate the following principles into your nutrition plan:

• Consume frequent feedings of high-quality protein throughout the day.
• In general, a higher fat, high protein diet is associated with greater HGH production than a high-carb, low-fat diet. Therefore, incorporate fat into your diet, paying heed to the pre-and post-exercise exception regarding fat consumption.
• Supplement with carbohydrate and protein before and after exercise, BUT avoid fat AND simple carbohydrates for one hour both before and after strength training. Ingestion of either dietary fat or simple carbs within an hour of resistance or other high-intensity training halts the body’s production of HGH.
• Ideally, keep your pre- and post- workout meals at a ratio of 3-to-1 or 2-to-1 complex carbohydrates to high quality protein.
• Avoid simple and refined carbs (ie, sugar and processed foods). These foods not only inhibit the body’s production of HGH, they also work to stimulate production of estrogen – a fat-storing hormone.
• Do not consume carbs within 2 hours of bedtime. However, eat before bed to support hormone production during sleep. Men should eat protein and fat at bedtime to maximize both testosterone and HGH nocturnal production. Women should eat protein at bedtime to maximize HGH production, as women do not experience significant increases in testosterone during sleep.

 

Tips for increasing muscle size & strength:

 

• To gain1 pound of lean muscle per week, calibrate your nutrition to result in a daily caloric surplus of 500-750 calories per day.
• Consume as clean a diet as possible, focusing on low-gylcemic index whole foods: non-tropical fruits, vegetables, nuts, nut butters, quality protein, etc.
• Consume 1.5-2.0 grams of complete protein per pound of body weight per day.
• Consume a minimum of 20-25 grams of protein with every meal and snack, ideally, eating every 2.5 – 3 hours. Never go more than 4 hours without eating.
• Include a high-quality, hydrolyzed whey protein shake (ideally between 200-250 calories) during workouts/within 15-30 minutes post workout, and at bedtime. Proto Whey (from BioNutritional Research) or AMP Amplified Wheybolic Extreme 60 (GNC Pro Performance) are good choices.
• Supplement with high-quality, sugar-free branch chain amino acids at least twice daily: within 15-30 minutes post workout and at bedtime. On strenuous training days, include a third dose of BCAAs in the morning. Try Gold Medal Aminos from www.4fitnessnutrition.com.
• In addition to BCAAs, consume 1 teaspoon (5 grams) of L-Glutamine 15-30 minutes post workout (for enhanced recovery).
• Sleep: Production of HGH in particular is highest during deep sleep (peaking 30-70 minutes after falling asleep), and is optimized in people who regularly get at least seven hours of uninterrupted sleep per night.

 

A WORD OF CAUTION:

 

Advanced strength training, whether for size or strength, is only for intermediate to advanced exercisers. Individuals beginning a strength   training program should begin with three total-body workouts per week for 3-6 months  before attempting a more aggressive split. Moving too quickly to advanced training methods increases the risk of injury, particularly to tendons and ligaments. This information is not intended to replace the advice of a medical doctor or nutritionist. Consult a doctor before beginning any new exercise program. Go hard, but be safe!

Beyond Bicep Curls: 3 Secrets to Better Arms

Rumor has it that summer is just around the corner, even here in the cold, gray Pacific Northwest. With that in mind, many of you may be wondering how to most effectively build a strong, sexy, tank-top worthy upper arm. Bicep curls, of course, are a staple — as are the clean eating and cardiovascular work necessary to burn body fat and reveal those hard-earned and shapely lines. The story, however, does not end there. For show-stopping size, shape, and definition, incorporate the following three principles into your workouts:

1. Add in Hammer Curls. Unlike the traditional bicep curl, during which you grip the bar or dumbbell with your palms facing forward, hammer curls are performed holding dumbbells with the palms facing the sides of the body. As with a traditional curl, keep the elbow stationary at your side and bend at the elbow, bringing the head of the dumbbell up to your shoulder. (This motion, particularly during the down-phase, mimics the swinging of a hammer, hence the name.) Why does this work? Unlike bicep curls, which target (wait for it…) the biceps, hammer curls actually isolate and work brachialis, a small muscle located beneath the biceps. Increasing the size of brachialis forces the biceps to sit up “higher” on the arm, giving the arm additional size and you the illusion of having bigger guns.

2. Give your triceps equal time. Did you know that triceps can actually account for an astounding 80% of upper arm size?  Additionally, working to enlarge the triceps gives the upper arm a more balanced, attractive shape overall and, ladies, helps to combat those flabby wing-like underarms we all abhor. As a result, you should never skimp on working this important muscle. Make sure your split includes exercises such as triceps overhead extension, triceps press down (one arm, two arm, rope, bar, etc), skull crushers, close-grip bench press, triceps push-ups, and kickbacks.

3. Build a bigger shoulder. A round, shapely deltoid cap is the perfect topper to a truly amazing arm. (Anyone checked out Jillian Michaels lately? Her amazing delts are positively key to those dead-sexy arms.) As an added benefit, creating width at the shoulder also makes the waist and hips appear smaller by comparison, giving us an opportunity to literally re-engineer our body shape. To get the most out of your shoulder work, make sure that you hit all three heads of the deltoid muscle. Throw in reverse dumbbell fly and Arnold Press to ensure that rear-delt gets some love, as well as plenty of side lateral raises, upright rows, and good-old military press. (Including bent rows and one-arm rows on your back days will also help target that rear delt, which is a synergist during those exercises.)

Finally, when training for size, remember to stick to the magic formula: For each muscle group you are working, do 3-6 sets of 3-4 exercises for 8-12 repetitions each. One exception of this rule applies to triceps work. AFTER you have done your 3-6 sets of 8-12 reps, pick one triceps exercise and go to failure. Feeling that burn along the back of the arm is a sure sign that we have signaled the body to generate the hormonal response necessary for muscular adaptation, and triceps in particular respond well to this type of approach. Now get to work!